HUGHTON ON: BOURNEMOUTH

At his pre-match press conference, Brighton & Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton spoke about the confidence taken from their 3-1 win over West Bromwich Albion, analysed Bournemouth’s below-par start to the season, commented on the opportunities for Jose Izquierdo, and discussed Bournemouth’s consistent style of play.

Confidence after first win: “I’d like to think that it will have an effect, because that’s what our game is all about, trying to go on good runs an build confidence from a good performance or good result.

“What we had against West Brom on Saturday was both, certainly a good result that we wanted and needed, but also a very good performance.

“I’m hoping that we can take that into Friday’s game. It will be very tough, it’s a tough place to go on a Friday night under the floodlights, but I just hope we can take some of that confidence from Saturday’s game.

Bournemouth’s slow start: “When you’re looking at any side and the quality in this division, if this is deemed a poor start by Bournemouth, it wouldn’t be the first time it's happened.

“When you’re at a club like Bournemouth that have only recently been in the Premier League, you can have good and bad periods. But what they’ve always done is come through them.

“They have a lot of quality in the team and I’ve no doubt it will only be a short period of time before they start turning those results around, because of the experience they’ve had in the last few seasons.

“Probably by the standards they’ve had - they’ll be disappointed - but there's certainly far more to come from them.”

Izquierdo introduction: “It’s a little bit of an unusual situation when you’ve spent the money that we did on somebody of his ability and quality, but he certainly understands that he came here with not the same [fitness] levels as everybody else.

“He only played two pre-season games, maybe 20-25 minutes in each. But if we’re in a situation where we need to use him from the off, then there’s no doubt he’s ready now.

“The form of the wide players that we have has been very good; I thought they [Anthony Knockaert and Solly March] were both very good on Saturday.

“But there’s no doubt that he'll get his opportunities. He’s a quality player and we’re very much looking forward to seeing him.

Bournemouth’s style of play: “They haven't changed their philosophies too much, but what they have changed in games this season is their formation. They’ve gone into a three-at-the-back in certain games, so they’re more than capable of doing that.

“However, generally they don’t change the way they play, they’re very much on the front foot and they’re an offensive side that want to go and win games.

"But it’s very difficult in the this division when you’re up agains the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea; it’s very difficult to play the way that you really want to play.